shenanigans - Jezebel

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Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
I'm so glad my high school experience was nothing like this lol - but I was a bit of an oddball anyway :: Pom captain, drama nerd, choir geek, mathlete all rolled in one.
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happymisanthrope
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
My favorite line of Juno was about how the hunky football player secretly was in love with the girl who played the cello, read McSweeneys and wanted to go to a liberal arts school. As a cello playing, McSweeneys reading, English BA holding woman, I can really appreciate that (although none of the football players were in love with me, but I didn't care for any of the jocks at my high school either)
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phantomfly
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Um, she's like 16. I really doubt she has much say in anything related to her music career, including what her videos are gonna look like. Give the girl a break.
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The HZA.
06/06/09

@phantomfly: Actually she has a ton of influence. She is very conscious of what she is doing with her career, music, tour etc. and for the most part she has a good head on her shoulders. I watched the huge hour interview with her last week. When asked about writing songs about boys she has dated and naming names she said "well maybe they shouldn't have been so mean..." But I do agree, she is young and for her, maybe this is how she envisioned it.
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SomeAuthorGirl
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Time for a new anthem. And gosh, I hope this works, apologies if it doesn't.
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SomeAuthorGirl
06/06/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: Oh, fuck it, commenting/baking don't mix. Here's the link, enjoy.

+ Watch video

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Ipomoea
06/06/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: OOOOH DAR WILLIAMS!!!!! I listened to this song so much in high school. I love, love LOVE her.
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ashke
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Taylor Swift's offence is far, far worse, but:

"Oh, and just wait until you see Hunky McHighschool five years after graduation. You'll be glad that you had your awesome specs on to see right through him."

A bit of a tired stereotype too, no? The hot jock turns into a sad, beer drinking loser. The cheerleader has five kids and a bad marriage. The nerdy girl grows into her looks and turns out to be a total successful hotty, with a happy family and a great career, probably married to the nerdy guy who went on to make millions as a computer programmer.

It's the same old fantasy, just drawn out until the high-school reunion instead of the big dance. Often times, hot people stay hot, successful people stay successful, and not every geek or nerd is little caterpillar of potential waiting to leave high school and emerge into an attractive, successful adult butterfly. The most likely reality is that most of us end up on about the same level a few years down the line. Better to live your life as best you can than worry about having the best revenge by out-doing Hotty McJock.
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hortense
06/06/09

@ashke: I meant it in the context of teen films, wherein the "jock" character is always a bit of a scumbag. The point is: don't try to mold yourself to impress a scumbag just because he's cute and popular now. Does this apply to every hot jock? No. But in the context of these fantasies that are thrown at kids all the damn time, it usually does.
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greengrey
06/06/09

@ashke: Often times, hot people stay hot

In my experience, the people who "peak" in high school only have room to get worse.
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Schm
06/06/09

@greengrey: Very true.
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drinkyrose
06/06/09

@greengrey: I've seen that phenomenon. But mostly? The really popular kids I went to school with had Money. With Money they were able to go to better schools, have better connections, have easier access to better jobs, go to better health clubs with better trainers and dietitians, have cosmetic procedures, etc etc.

Most of them all stayed hot and successful. But many of them were also very nice people. Though I'd be lying if I said there wasn't an asshole or two...
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Schm
06/06/09

@drinkyrose: Well... I've seen a lot of people echo this same sort of statement on Jez (that the popular kids at their high schools were the ones with wealth). But I would argue that for most high schools (aka non-affluent ones), this really isn't the case. I went to a quintessential middle-America HS in a small town, and because everyone's sort of middle class, the hierarchies are more based on athleticism, partying, etc.

Not saying this isn't true for you, of course. But on the whole, most schools aren't in areas with a lot of money and values placed on education (sadly), so I think the general sentiment of Hottie McJock turning into Joe Sixpack Beerbelly still holds true for the most part.
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AthertonMerriweather
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Does her t-shirt say Junior Jews?! Is she going to a Catholic high school on scholarship and forced to wear that? So confused.
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SomeAuthorGirl
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
I second the calling of shenanigans, and I too typically think Taylor Swift is a good egg.

I just hate the whole "oooh, please like me even though I'm a nerd with glasses, see I'll get contacts and new clothes for you, see, see, SEE???!!!" Yeah, let's keep telling young girls that this is Reality (TM).

Young Jezebels: allow me to add my voice to the chorus telling you not to buy into it. High school and college mean nothing 5 and 10 years later. She who is a dork today 10 years on is a doctor of something, a vice president, a designer of things, an engineer, a chef... I could keep going, but you get the picture.

Don't. Buy. It.
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Ipomoea
06/06/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: Word. I had a friend in high school who was the holy trifecta of high school outcast: Gothy, drama nerd, and band geek. She is now a super-hot nerd working on her PhD in anthropology and everyone at the reunion was bowled over by her. The high school hot girls were still acting like they were hot shit, but they still had the nasty attitude that meant we didn't like them in high school, and people like it even less when you're 28.
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HereComesMyBaby
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Bahaha, all I remember about the kids in the band in that they were always giving head to each other on the back of the schoolbus and such--they were totally the Sexually Active Band Geeks of Mean Girls fame.

Band geeks get a lot of play, which unfortunately the rest of us had to watch while they were making out in public *shudder*.
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Ipomoea
06/06/09

@HereComesMyBaby: @LoSpaz: By far my most sexually active friends were band geeks and colorguard nerds. All those flags and those flutes.... SHENANIGANS in the band room!
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spiraloflife
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
I think I actually look way cooler with my glasses. So there.
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Ipomoea
06/06/09

@spiraloflife: When my husband gets insurance that I can get on, the first thing I'm going to do is get my eyes checked in the hopes that I can get glasses. I think they're so hot and Coach had really cute ones!
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BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit)
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Yup - I was a theatre nerd in high school and I think all the boys were afraid of me. Never had one date in high school. I was sad sometimes, but I wasn't changing for nobody. Then I found a dude who liked me the way I was and married him. Now we're nerds together!

The moral of the story is: nerds are better anyway.
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Very well said. Also, the Avril Lavigne video where she torments and then steals the boyfriend from the "nerdy girl" (read: wears glasses).
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
06/06/09

@Sputnik_Sweetheart: Interesting that there are three comments in a row that reference "Girlfriend." Great minds and all that.....
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heykoukla
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
It is lame, but nowhere near as bad as Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend, in which the girlfriend Avril wanted to replace was a geek (with glasses, obviously). It's like the 80s, 90s and 00s never happened - the geek as target of ridicule again...
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annagsquared
06/06/09

@heykoukla: That song is so unbelievably offensive to me, even though it really shouldn't be. So much for progress. I guess we'll all be watching the geek vs. the "hot chick" battle it out until the geek takes off her glasses and stuns us all.
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YourScreenplaySucks
06/06/09

@heykoukla: It's catchy as hell, but the lyrics utterly obnoxious. That this song was so popular that it was translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, etc. depresses me.
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heykoukla
06/06/09

@annagsquared: @BiteMeMitchell!: @greengrey:@Your Screenplay Sucks: When I first heard the song I thought it was just a bit of catchy, fun pop, and that opinion would have remained if the video showed The Girlfriend as a Paris Hilton type, you know? Instead I was left fretting that Kids These Days™ hate geeks.
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YourScreenplaySucks
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
So this is basically another song in the Avril Lavigne "Girlfriend" vein, except with a soggier beat? I'd add that I'm over these delusional "your girlfriend is a stupid bimbo who sucks and doesn't understand your brilliance like me, why don't you see that??" songs

In the unlikely event that his girlfriend actually lacks your profound depths & wide-ranging intellect, he picked her so that tells you something about what's important to him. Know your audience.
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hortense
06/06/09

@Your Screenplay Sucks: Right!? I'm sayin.
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
06/06/09

@Your Screenplay Sucks: Comment jinx.
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Kali Mama
06/06/09

@Your Screenplay Sucks: Right. So he's either not the sharpest tool, or of the shhhh! just be pretty no need to talk variety. The first will exasperate you, the second will just make you uppity. Get a vibe.
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heykoukla
06/06/09

@Your Screenplay Sucks: @Sputnik_Sweetheart: I only just checked back on these comments a little while ago and just now noticed the freaky jinx. Wahey!
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Kali Mama
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
Wasn't the homely highschool girl turns hot when taking out her ponytail and removing her glasses taken to task in one of the countless spoof movies in the 90's?

Help me here jezebelles.
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hortense
06/06/09

@Kali Mama: Not Another Teen Movie?
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drinkyrose
06/06/09

@hortense: That's the one. Terrible movie.

I loved it.
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Kali Mama
06/06/09

@hortense: Yup. Youtube doesn't have clips but that specific scene hits you over the head with bluntness.

Also, main character is Lexi from Grey's Anatomy! Mindfuck.
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Ipomoea
06/06/09

@drinkyrose: I loved it because it had Molly Ringwald, and my Ringwald love knows no bounds.
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annagsquared
06/06/09

In reply to Taylor Swift, You Are On Notice
No! Not Janey Briggs! She's got GLASSES and a PONYTAIL! And PAINT COVERED OVERALLS! Too hard! Too hard!

Also, when she has the glasses on, all I could think of was that I was looking at what Karen Brewer would have looked like if she ever made it out of second grade and eventually became a high school student.
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IBleedGlitter: The High Priestess of Tinsel
06/06/09

@annagsquared: Not Another Teen Movie was the first thing I thought of when I read this, haha!
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